Comments on: New for 2017: My fall fun list https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/ Writer, Author, Speaker Tue, 17 Apr 2018 13:58:30 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 By: Kathleen https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35502 Sun, 10 Sep 2017 11:30:31 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35502 Somewhere recently (newsletter?) you said you realized you spend more time in the car than you’d thought. If you want to make the most of that time, have you tried WhisperSync? It allows you to toggle seamlessly between reading a book on Kindle and listening to the audiobook version. Pretty clever!

As for a “remainder of 2017” fun list (because it bleeds into winter):

– Take kids on their first trip abroad (Prague!)

– Bake an apple pie with “help” from kiddos

– Take kids on nature walk during peak leaves; try to sneak some colorful candid photos

– See the Ford’s Theater version of A Christmas Carol with the younger kid (did it last year with the older; smashing success)

– Spend at least 2 chilly Friday evenings on the porch with a book and a hot drink, reading under a thick blanket

– Host a “mom’s night in” for a handful of friends (on Friday… 7 bottles of wine + too much cheese already purchased!)

– Maybe do one of those fall harvest festivals? They always sound more fun in theory than they are in reality, and I hate paying $100 to be mildly irritated for a few hours and receive a small pumpkin as a consolation prize.

]]> By: lauravanderkam https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35501 Fri, 08 Sep 2017 19:04:27 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35501 In reply to Elizabeth.

@Elizabeth – I’m pretty sure ours die annually too, which is why we have to buy them each fall. But that’s fine – we have annuals that are spring flowers too.

I have not read Middlemarch, but have had several people suggest it – I will look into it!

]]> By: Elizabeth https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35500 Fri, 08 Sep 2017 16:31:56 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35500 Thanks for the inspiration, Laura. Since I’m in the same metro area, I can copy many of your ideas. 🙂 I’d forgotten about the nature preserve at Cape May–I think I visited it as a child but haven’t been back since.

Just a warning about mums–they’re very high maintenance about water. I love to buy them every year, but mine inevitably die early because I never remember to water them enough.

Have you read Middlemarch? That’s one of my favorite “curl up indoors with a big, engrossing classic” books. And speaking of reading and indoor improvements, number one on my fun fall list this year is getting a gas insert installed in our living room fireplace. I have many daydreams of reading by the fire on rainy days and cool evenings.

]]> By: Meghan https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35499 Fri, 08 Sep 2017 16:04:57 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35499 I made a fall list after your suggestion on the summer fun post. Ours is a little different, since we’re in Georgia, but it includes camping (yay for fewer bugs) and heading to the mountain-ish area in north Georgia where the Appalachian Trail begins. We also need to get the kids’ passports!

]]> By: Meghan https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35498 Fri, 08 Sep 2017 16:03:10 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35498 In reply to Tana.

Ooh, good suggestion! I’ve been trying to work my way through classic gothic and scary books, too. Last year I read The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, and have been considering finally picking up James’s The Turn of the Screw. I love Jane Eyre, and Margot Livesy’s retelling, The Flight of Gemma Hardy, is deliciously bleak — perfect for November.

]]> By: lauravanderkam https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35497 Fri, 08 Sep 2017 12:15:24 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35497 In reply to Emily.

@Emily- interesting! I just ordered this one and will give it a whirl.

]]> By: Emily https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35496 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 20:50:26 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35496 Fall books: the first Inspector Gamache book, Still Life is full of crackling leaves and fall colors and is cozy and has amazing characters and other literary virtues for a mystery.

]]> By: Caitlin https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35495 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 20:23:00 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35495 I am right there with you on realizing that some fall things have to happen while it still feels really warm and not much like fall, and also that I can purchase mums just like the ones I admire in others’ yards! Also cornstalks 🙂

For good fall reads, I love The Secret History by Donna Tartt if you haven’t read it already.

]]> By: Diana https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35494 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 19:12:37 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35494 Such a good idea! I made a list for summer and need to do one for fall now! I always assume I’ll get things done but a list makes it so much more likely!

]]> By: Tana https://lauravanderkam.com/2017/09/new-2017-fall-fun-list/#comment-35493 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 19:06:32 +0000 http://lauravanderkam.staging.wpengine.com/?p=6850#comment-35493 Fall books: Last year in November I read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – perfect fall read. The b&w movie based on it is actually pretty accurate to the book and is also excellent. Frankenstein is also a great fall read – I don’t find the book that scary but the movie would freak me out (and thus I haven’t watched it).

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